WND MEDIA

Al Jazeera America sues AT&T

Over telecom giant's refusal to carry network

Published: 08/21/2013 at 12:04 PM

(BLOOMBERG) AT&T Inc. (T), the largest U.S. phone company, was sued by Al Jazeera over its refusal to to carry the Qatar-based broadcaster’s new U.S. cable-news channel as part of its pay-television service.

The Dallas-based company is violating an agreement with Al Jazeera’s U.S. unit by refusing to broadcast the channel, which began airing in the U.S. yesterday, according to a filing inDelaware Chancery Court. The network, controlled by the Qatari royal family, paid $500 million for Al Gore’s money-losing Current TV in January and rebranded it.

AT&T’s U-verse pay-TV service said Aug. 19 it wouldn’t carry Al Jazeera America because of a contract dispute. U-verse began in 2006 and has 5 million video customers in states such as Texas and California.